Zodiac Academy 5: Cursed Fates
Cursed Fates: Chapter 23

I hated to admit it, but the Heirs really knew how to throw a party.

The venue they’d created for the celebrations was seriously cool. The huge room crafted from a combination of earth and water magic took my breath away and I couldn’t help but marvel at everything. From the walls built out of crisscrossing vines and layers of glimmering ice to the waterfalls which cascaded over boulders glimmering with veins of precious metals inside them, it was breathtaking.

The building was half on the lakeshore and half over the water itself, the surface of the lake frozen into a dance floor painted with patterns in the frost. At the far side of the room, a portion of the floor was missing and there were two pools filled with people who had chosen to go for a dip. One side had been imbued with fire magic so that the water was hot and perfect for the countless people lazing in it while the other was ice cold and gave access into the rest of the lake where Sirens in their shifted form were diving in and out of the water.

A bar had been set up using what looked like a tree that had been grown into the perfect shape to provide all manner of cocktails as the bartenders put on a real show of mixing them, adding magic to more than a few of the recipes as they went.

Geraldine dragged me through the dancing bodies over to the bar as she wafted a hand dramatically to cool herself down.

“Well, if I don’t just feel like a turnip in a sack of potatoes,” she gasped. “Sorry to be a Betsy Buzzkill but I just need a breather for a moment.”

I laughed as I followed her to the bar and she barked at the people gathered there so that they moved aside to make room for us. And I mean she genuinely barked like a dog, channelling her Order form and damn near giving me a heart attack as the huge sound rang out from her lips.

“Two Footloose Faradays,” she ordered and the bartender grinned as he began mixing her order.

“What’s that?” I asked, watching as he added tequila to grapefruit juice then threw in some other dashes of colourful drinks and a few raspberries too before casting a spell over the canister then closing it up and beginning up an impressive routine of tossing it into the air and spinning around as he caught it again.

“It’s a magical cocktail which helps you to lower your inhibitions,” Max’s voice came from behind me and I turned to look as him and Darius moved to stand beside us at the bar. “And can you make enough of those for all of us?” he added, catching the bartender’s eye.

My mouth dried out as I looked up at Darius and he looked back at me with enough heat in his gaze to set my core burning molten hot.

I’d chosen a cute skirt and top combo in a bold flower pattern which left my midriff on show. The top buttoned in the front and I’d left a few open to offer up a view of the girls in my push-up bra which Darius clearly noticed as he closed in on me.

He took a spot right beside me at the bar with Max on his other side and my gaze drank in the sight of his muscles straining against the confines of the black button down he was wearing. Several buttons were undone at his throat and I tried not to think too much about what hid beneath them.

“You look incredible tonight, Roxy,” he said in a low voice which sent a shiver running right down my spine.

“You scrub up pretty nicely too, Dragon boy,” I teased with a seductive edge to my voice.

I didn’t know why I was bothering to flirt with him considering our situation, but it was impossible to resist with him looking like that.

The bartender lined up four of the pale pink cocktails in tall glasses before us and I glanced at mine hesitantly. After the last magical drink I’d consumed had resulted in me grinding up against anyone and everyone I could get near, I was hesitant to repeat the incident. Especially as I remembered being all over Diego of all people. Bleugh. Even drunk Tory wouldn’t have made that mistake. Just imagine screwing him with that creepy grandma soul hat on. Ew.

“Happy birthday,” I said, shifting my gaze to Max and giving him a smile which was pretty close to genuine. “Are you having fun?”

“I am,” he said with a wide smile, his gaze slipping from me to Geraldine as she totally checked him out. He was wearing a red button down and had a silver crown sitting on top of his mohawk with the words birthday boy scrawled across it. “Here’s to me,” Max said as he lifted his drink to his lips and took a long swig of it.

“Bottoms up!” Geraldine announced as she drank hers too, swallowing again and again until the whole glass was gone. “Down the hatch milady!”

I laughed at her and she bounced her hip into mine, knocking me sideways so that my arm brushed against Darius’s and I glanced up at him again as I shifted away quickly.

“Aren’t you drinking yours?” I asked as his pale pink drink stayed sitting on the bar beside mine.

“I’m concerned about what I might be tempted to do if my inhibitions are lowered,” he replied, his gaze dropping to my mouth for a moment before hooking on my eyes again.

“Oh, I see,” I said, nodding my head. “So you’re chicken shit?”

He expelled a breath which was almost a laugh and shook his head. “Hardly.”

“Is it more like you can dish it out but you can’t take it then? It’s okay to give me a potion that made me grind up against a bunch of random dudes in my underwear so that you could sell me out to the press and tell lies about me, but you don’t wanna risk your own precious reputation on doing the same?”

Darius pursed his lips, but Max spoke up before he could.

“Technically I’m the one who put that potion in your drink and Darius actually tried to stop Seth from sending the footage to the press – but he was too late.”

“Oh you devilish scoundrel!” Geraldine chastised as I looked up at Darius in surprise. I hadn’t known that, I thought it had been all him if I was being totally honest. Though he clearly knew all about the plan and didn’t try to stop it until after the fact so I still had a right to bear a grudge. “That move was beyond low! You don’t see my ladies using tricks and lies to win this fight, do you? They are the epitome of poise and decorum and-”

“Would it make you feel better if I drank this then?” Darius asked me, cutting her off. “An eye for an eye and all that.”

“It’s hard to say,” I replied, tossing my long hair over my shoulder as I glanced down at the drinks which twinkled with pink light as the magic swirled within the liquid.

Darius reached out and grabbed his drink as if I’d challenged him to, draining it in one as I watched his throat bob with each swallow. He took mine next and lifted it to his lips, ignoring the bartender’s warning that drinking two would have more potent effects.

“So?” he asked me as he placed the glass down. “Have I paid my dues over this incident?”

“I’ll be needing a half naked picture of you grinding up against some people you’d never want to hook up with before I’d say that,” I hedged, my lips twitching in a smile. “And you’d want to get that posted online for good measure.”

“Fair enough, but Father won’t like it,” he said, dead serious as he looked out into the crowd for someone who would fit the bill and began unhooking some more of his shirt buttons.

My lips parted in surprise as I realised he was really willing to do it and I wondered if the drinks could have taken effect that quickly or if he actually felt bad enough about doing that to me to try and make us even.

I was almost tempted to let him go through with it, but my gut tightened at the thought of Lionel punishing him for this game and I reached out to stop him, my fingers curling around his bicep as he looked down at me with a confused frown.

“Forget it, I was only joking,” I said with the hint of a smile.

A girl stumbled as she walked past us, tripping over her heels and falling right between us so that my hand was knocked off of his arm. She smacked into the bar and cried out in shock a second before shifting into her Sphinx form and tearing through her dress.

“Fuck biscuits,” she cursed on a hiccup.

Her underwear had actually survived the transformation which meant I had to try really damn hard not to laugh my head off at the sight of her huge lion ass wrapped in a black thong with her tail poking out the side of it.

She staggered away as some of her equally drunken friends hurried to help her while murmuring apologies and I looked back at Darius as we exchanged a smile. On occasion, the way the stars chose to part us was hella funny.

He looked like there was something else he wanted to say, but I caught Geraldine’s hand and slipped away from him into the crowd before the roof could cave in on us or something as I tugged her back towards the dancing.

Darcy and Sofia spotted us and they moved to join us in the middle of the dancefloor where we carved a space for ourselves and danced to the beat of the music as I lost myself in the warmth of my friends’ company.

The time slipped by and eventually someone rolled out an enormous cake with twenty tiers covered in candles as everyone moved to sing happy birthday to Seth and Max.

They both grinned as the chorus of voices filled the space and for a moment it didn’t feel like we were taking part in some battle for the throne. It just felt like we were a group of teenagers enjoying a birthday party exactly like everyone else in the world would. I mean sure, most people didn’t have twenty tier cakes and a table so overloaded with gifts that it had actually caved in, let alone over a thousand people in attendance, but blowing out candles and singing that song was universal.

Cake was handed out and I took a huge bite of vanilla goodness with a moan of appreciation as I grinned at my friends, icing smearing across my cheeks.

“I have a new game I want to play with you,” Caleb’s voice came from behind me and I turned to look at him as I sucked icing from my fingers.

“Is that so?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah. But it’s a surprise,” he said, leaning close to me and licking my cheek to get some more of the icing.

I laughed in surprise, batting him off as I wiped my cheek to remove his saliva. “What are you up to?

“How about you just come with me and find out? We made a deal, so you know it’s nothing bad,” he reminded me, his navy eyes twinkling with a secret.

I glanced at Darcy and she shrugged. “Go have fun if you want to,” she said and I didn’t miss the undertone which said she thought I might hook up with him. But was I really going to go there with Caleb again? I hated to admit it, but the only person I really thought about like that these days was Darius. But that was an impossibility now. So was I going to just become celibate because I couldn’t have him? The scariest thing about that question was that I didn’t even know the answer.

If the stars have stolen sex from me then is life even worth living??

“Look, just come with me and see what I’ve got planned,” Caleb urged. “If you’re not up for it you only have to say the word and I’ll shoot you back here in the blink of an eye.”

“You seriously won’t tell me?” I asked, looking up at him again, my heart beating a little faster in response to the wild look in his eyes. 

“I promise you’ll enjoy it,” he replied. “But you’ll have to trust me, sweetheart. Can you manage that?”

I looked into his navy eyes, a playful smile toying around my lips as he suckered me in to whatever game he was playing. “I suppose I can. At least while you’re bound by our deal,” I replied slowly. 

“Come on then.” He offered me his hand and I took it, waving at Darcy and letting him tow me out of the party. 

He didn’t release me and I noticed a few lingering looks at our intertwined hands, but he didn’t let go and I didn’t care about what people thought of me anyway. I was already the sex addict who Darius Acrux had said no to, so what difference did it make if they thought I was sucking Caleb’s dick too? It wasn’t like I hadn’t done it before anyway.

He led me along the lakeshore, looking back over his shoulder at me with a grin that was so filled with trouble that adrenaline surged into my veins. The music faded away behind us as we followed the path around the curve of the lake and Caleb kept shooting me excited glances as we went which had anticipation pooling in my core.

I wanted to lose myself in whatever trouble he had planned. The smile which was currently stamped on my lips wasn’t easy to come by recently and Caleb had always been able to make me laugh. It was so hard for me to feel happy ever since I’d become Star Crossed with Darius, and even if he only helped me forget for a little while, it was still better than lingering in what ifs.

Caleb pulled his Atlas from his pocket as we walked, typing out a quick message on it and giving me a furtive look as he angled it so that I couldn’t see what he was writing before hitting send and pocketing it again. 

A few moments later it pinged in his pocket and he glanced at the reply he’d gotten, once again holding it so I couldn’t see before smirking as he put it away.

I figured he was hoping I’d ask who that had been, but I didn’t. It didn’t make much difference to me anyway and I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of refusing to answer. 

He suddenly turned off of the path, moving towards a group of boulders clustered on the lake shore and I frowned in confusion as he led me around them and revealed a door hidden between the stones.

“What is this place?” I asked as he released my hand to open the door.

A long, dark staircase stretched away ahead of us, leading down to somewhere beneath the lake.

“This is an amplifying chamber,” he explained. “It’s a place created with an entirely equal blend of all four Elements, making the space inside entirely neutral. The natural amplifying qualities of the water above makes it easier to take a peek at what the stars have in store.”

“So you want to take me fortune telling?” I asked in surprise.

“No,” he said, smirking like a fox who’d just found his way into the hen house. “Put these on and I’ll explain more once we’re inside.” Caleb pulled a set of bangles from his back pocket which I recognised from the fun house at the Fairy Fair. They would cut off my access to my magic if I wore them.

“Why do you want to-” Caleb’s hand landed over my mouth and he glanced up at the sky for a moment before pushing the power restricting bangles over my wrists. He scooped me into his arms in the next breath and shot down the dark stairs before I had a chance to object.

I gasped as we plunged beneath the earth, moving down and down until finally racing along a passageway which must have led beneath the lake itself.

The world flipped upright again and I bit my lip as I looked around at the space we found ourselves in. We stood in a bubble formed of smooth stone beneath our feet and thick glass above our heads where I could just make out the movement of dark water against the other side of it. Around the edges of the room orange flames flickered in a circle and the air I drew in between my lips was sharp and fresh like the morning after a storm.

“This place is designed for Fae to look at the stars not the other way around, and it will mask our presence from them for the most part,” Caleb explained, his smile widening. “The other way the stars can track us is via our magic, so while we’re blocking yours, I think they won’t know what you’re up to.”

“Why don’t we want them to know what I’m up to?” I breathed, looking around at the magical space and feeling that equilibrium between the four Elements hanging in the air with a shiver of pleasure.

The black walls sparkled with silver mineral deposits and I realised that they’d been placed with care, replicating countless constellations all around us.

Caleb took a step closer to me, capturing my lips with his and making my heart skip a beat as he caught me off guard. I wanted to pull back but for a long moment I didn’t, wondering if I even had any reason to want to stop this. Darius might have been different recently, but it didn’t matter, did it? Even if he managed to pluck a star from the sky for me, I couldn’t be with him now that I’d made my choice. It was all too little too late.

I still pulled back though, looking up at Caleb as he smiled like he’d expected that. “I’m not sure this is a good idea,” I said in a low voice.

“You’re thinking about Darius, aren’t you?” he asked with a weird smile which said he was pleased about that.

“I…” I wanted to deny it but it was true no matter how unfair that was, how pointless. Caleb pushed my hair back over my shoulders and rested his hands on my upper arms as he waited for my answer. “Yes,” I admitted. “I’m always thinking about him.”

“Good.”

I frowned as I tried to figure out why the hell he would think that was a good thing and Caleb ran his hands down from my shoulders until he’d encircled my wrists with his fingers and his grip tightened. He drew my arms behind my back, pressing my wrists together before creating a vine with his earth magic which secured them in place. 

“I don’t understand,” I admitted.

“I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to figure something out and I think I might just have cracked it,” he said slowly. “But I’m going to need you to keep trusting me for another few minutes. Can you manage that?”

My pulse quickened as I leaned back to look up at him, my eyes widening with anticipation and a touch of fear as I wondered what the hell he was talking about.

“Okay,” I agreed slowly as I found something reassuring in his gaze. “But why do you want to tie me up?” I asked with a faint smile. The vine was tight enough to hold me in place, but I was fairly sure I’d be able to break it if I really wanted to. 

“That’s just the start.” Caleb smirked at me as he reached up to his neck and slowly loosened his tie.

I watched him with my bottom lip between my teeth as he undid the knot and slid it free of his collar. He really was something to look at. Like a Greek Adonis brought to life with his golden hair and chiselled features. And for a moment I wished that I wasn’t so caught up in Darius, that the stars would just release me from this curse and let me consider pursuing something with him instead. Or someone else, anyone else. Why did I have to pine for Darius forevermore as well as knowing that I’d denied myself my one true shot at love?

Caleb walked behind me again and I stayed still as he wound the tie over my eyes, blocking my view of the chamber and only leaving the faint orange glow of the fire lingering at the edges my vision. 

“Caleb…” I said slowly, a hint of warning in my voice. I wasn’t sure I liked being so vulnerable with him like this. 

My voice echoed slightly against the cavern walls and Caleb stepped away from me, making me feel entirely alone down here beneath the earth and water. 

 “I promise you’ll like this,” Caleb said, surprising me as his voice came from right beside me instead of behind.

He ran his fingers down the side of my neck for a moment, caressing the spot where my pulse pounded beneath the skin before moving away again.

“If at any point you want us to stop, just say the word,” Caleb murmured in my ear, his lips brushing against the shell. 

“Us?” I asked, my heart beating a little faster as I frowned beneath the blindfold. 

Caleb’s only reply was a dark chuckle which sent goosebumps rushing along my sensitised skin. Footsteps approached and I stilled, straining my ears to try and figure out what was going on beyond the frantic pounding of my heart. 

“Relax, sweetheart,” Caleb whispered, his breath washing over my mouth a second before he ran his finger in a slow line along the length of my nose then brushed my lips in a feather light touch. 

Electricity sparked right through to the base of my spine and I inhaled sharply, wondering where the next touch would come from. 

The footsteps came to a sudden halt and I caught the sound of someone letting out a breath in surprise before the sound was abruptly cut off. 

“Caleb?” I asked, my voice bouncing back to me from the cave walls, but there was no response. 

I squirmed a little against the restraints holding my wrists. They were tight enough to keep me still, but I was aching to try and break loose. I almost gave into the temptation to do just that, but I fisted my hands instead. He wanted to put me on the back foot, he was probably half expecting me to bail out of this game already. But I wasn’t going to back out. 

I gritted my teeth and waited. A few seconds later, footsteps approached me again and I quickly realised there were two sets of them. 

I fidgeted a little more, wondering why he’d brought someone else here and if I was being utterly stupid to put my trust in him like this. He was an Heir. This could easily be some trap. But he’d made that deal with me and so far, I was still fairly confident in my ability to escape my bonds if that was what I wanted. And for some reason, I wanted to find out why he’d chosen to do this to me.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Caleb murmured in my ear, making me flinch a little at his proximity. “I had to cast a silencing bubble to explain what was going on. I didn’t want to ruin the fun by giving the game away too quickly.”

“I don’t understand,” I began, frowning into the fabric of his tie which still hid the world from me. 

“You will,” he promised, his fingertips brushing across my neck and excited energy skittered through me. 

“But-” I began just as another hand skimmed along the length of my jaw, a rough thumb teasing a line along my bottom lip and making my skin burn with a desperate need. 

My heart pulsed with surprise. That wasn’t Caleb. This hand was rougher, his touch firmer and the heat radiating from his skin sinfully familiar. 

I opened my mouth to say something, to make some protest at the idea of the two of them moving around me while I was tied before them like some prize to be won. But before I could align my thoughts into words, Caleb’s cool fingers teased through my hair from behind me, pulling it back over my shoulder. 

The second hand traced a line with his fingers down the side of my face, skimming a path along my neck and on until he dragged it across my breast beneath my shirt. My nipple hardened in response, a jolt of energy flooding straight between my thighs as my breath caught. 

I didn’t want to give a name to my suspicions, but goosebumps were erupting all over my skin and a soft moan escaped my lips.

Not knowing where he was or how he might touch me next was making my heart pound like crazy and my breaths came deeper in anticipation of what he’d do. 

Caleb’s fingers slid through my hair and trailed down my spine, my back arching as the second guy painted a line with his fingers from my chin to the top button of my shirt.

His fingers plucked at it gently and my breathing hitched as he dropped it again, leaving it in place.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice breathy from the game already. “I don’t know if I want to-”

“Come on, Roxy,” Darius whispered in my ear and a shiver ran down my spine as my guess was proved right. “Show us what you’re made of.”

Before I could reply, his lips brushed against mine and every inch of my body set alight for him. I didn’t have a chance to react at all before he moved away from me again and I was left in the dark and the cold, my skin aching for his touch.

This was a bad idea. I’d made my choice. There was no going back on it. But there was something about us being here, hidden from the world without me even being able to see him, that made me want to forget all that. Just for a moment. 

“What do you say, Tory?” Caleb asked, his fingers brushing across my hands where they were still tied at the base of my spine. “I have a theory that with the bangles hiding both of your magic and me thrown into the mix while we hide down here, the stars won’t be able to figure out what we’re doing.”

“And the blindfold?” I asked, my breath catching as I tried to buy myself a moment to process that idea.

“Because it’s hot as fuck,” Caleb said and Darius growled like he agreed with that.

I bit my lip, wondering if this was insanity just as Darius ran his fingers down the side of my neck, making me shiver with need.

“So, do you want to play?” Caleb asked, his voice sounding from my right.

My heart pumped harder, my breaths coming deep and heavy as I considered what they were offering me. It seemed crazy. After everything that had happened between us, especially me and Darius, I should have been screaming at them to get the hell away from me. But maybe I was a glutton for punishment or maybe I was addicted to the darkness because if there was even the slightest chance that I could have him, then I wanted it. My lips parted, my heart thumped solidly in my chest and a single word left my lips. 

“Yes.”

A kiss captured my mouth and I stumbled forward a step, recognising Caleb as his hand caught my jaw and he turned my head to the right so that he could reach me better. 

Darius growled like he didn’t like that and his mouth landed on my neck, his stubble grazing my skin and I moaned as the two of them caged me in with their muscular bodies. 

A hand slid to my top button, and my heart thundered adrenaline through my body as I realised I couldn’t tell whose it was. Another hand made it to my bottom button and started working up my shirt to meet the first. 

Caleb’s tongue slid over mine and his grip on my face tightened as he stepped around me, turning my head to maintain our kiss as he moved to stand against my back, kissing me over my shoulder. 

His body pressed against mine and I pushed my ass back, feeling the hard length of his arousal driving against me through the barrier of our clothes. My hands were still pinned in place at the base of my spine but I flexed my fingers, rubbing them along the length of him and drawing a groan from his lips as he broke our kiss. 

I turned my head forward just as the final button of my shirt was released and the cool air of the chamber washed over my exposed skin. 

“You’re so fucking beautiful, Roxy,” Darius growled from somewhere just out of reach in front of me, watching me while I couldn’t see him. 

Goosebumps speckled my skin as Caleb’s hands slid around my waist, his mouth coming down on my neck. 

His fangs brushed against my flesh and a gasp escaped me, my back arching in anticipation of what I knew he was about to do. 

He bit down and I cried out at the sharp slice of his teeth but Darius’s lips landed on mine a second later, filling me with heat and devouring my pain. I melted against him, my heart hammering a wild tune as the heat of him slid through every inch of my body.

His hands skimmed up my ribs until they found my breasts over my pink bra and a groan of longing escaped him as my nipples hardened at his touch. 

The ground wasn’t trembling, there was no sound of thunder, nothing to suggest the stars knew what we were doing and the thought of that was a thrill in itself.

My gut clenched as Darius’s kiss deepened and I gave myself to him, knowing that I shouldn’t, that this decision had already been made. But with his hands on my body and his mouth against mine it was hard to remember why. Everything about him felt so right when he was touching me, his heart beating close to mine…

An echo of pain raced through my chest at the idea of what he could have been to me. What he should have been. If everything had been different.

I kissed him with a desperate need to stifle that pain. I could taste the same desire on his tongue, that ache to make this more than just a stolen moment, to undo all of the things that had put us here and force the stars to change our fates.

Caleb withdrew his fangs from my neck and swept a thumb over the sore skin as he healed the wound away but I could barely feel it anymore, lost to the sensation of Darius’s mouth against mine. 

One of Darius’s hands slid into my hair and my soul ached for him, my heart longing to be his in a way that wasn’t possible. I drew back from the pain of his closeness, pushing my ass back against Caleb as I broke my kiss with him. 

Darius let out a low growl, letting his own pain show as he acknowledged what I’d done, but I had to do it. I could take this pleasure from him but I had to keep my heart blocked off. I’d made my choice. I couldn’t forgive what he’d done to me and my pupils were ringed with black to prove it. 

I flexed my fingers along Caleb’s dick again, tipping my head back to give him more access to me as Darius began to trail kisses down my throat, over my collar bone and on to my breast. 

He dragged my bra aside as his mouth closed on my nipple and a moan escaped me as Caleb’s hand found my other breast at the same time. 

The two of them tugged and teased me, my breathing growing heavier as the combination of the two sensations sent my body wild. 

Darius released my nipple and shifted lower before me, the sound of his knees hitting the stone floor reaching my ears as his mouth moved over my stomach. 

My breath caught as he hooked his fingers into the waistband of my skirt. He dragged it down achingly slowly, his rough palms teasing across my thighs as he tugged it lower. 

It dropped down to my ankles and I stepped out of it, leaving me before them in my stockings, stilettos, underwear and open shirt. I was aware that their clothes were still on even though with the blindfold and my hands restrained it didn’t make much difference, but my heart beat a little faster at the knowledge that I was so exposed while they weren’t.

I shifted my bound hands higher behind my back, awkwardly managing to hook my fingers through the loop in Caleb’s belt and drawing a dark laugh from him as he moved away from me before I could do any more. 

“Impatient little thing, aren’t you?” Caleb teased, breathing against my ear before biting my earlobe playfully. 

“Take your clothes off,” I insisted breathlessly and the two of them laughed at my demanding tone, though Darius’s grip on me tightened like he wanted to drag me away from Caleb and claim me for his own. I knew this wasn’t natural for him, he wasn’t programmed to share like this but he was clearly willing to push against his instincts for this chance to be with me and my heart beat harder just thinking of that.

Darius caught my left ankle in his grip, tugging gently until I shifted my weight onto my right foot and let him lift it from the ground. His fingers pressed against my calf through the fabric of my stocking as he slowly slid his hands higher, lifting my leg and forcing me to bend it. 

His mouth landed against the inside of my knee through the silky material of my stocking and he began to carve a trail of kisses up the inside of my thigh, sending an ache of need right through me as he drew closer to exactly where I wanted him to be. 

Caleb pulled me back against him more firmly, balancing me as Darius hooked my leg over his shoulder. Caleb’s hand continued to toy with my breast, his mouth skimming down my neck as Darius passed the top of my stocking and my pulse thundered as his lips pressed down on bare flesh. 

Darius’s mouth fell on me over the barrier of my lace panties and a moan escaped my lips as I shifted my hips against him. His stubble grazed the sensitive skin at the tops of my thighs and his hands moved to grip my ass and hold me exactly where he wanted me. 

His mouth closed over me, his teeth dragging against the thin material and sending a spike of pleasure through my body so intense that my knees almost buckled.

“Fuck,” I breathed, tipping my head back against Caleb’s shoulder as his mouth moved across my jaw. 

I could feel him smiling against my skin as he watched me fall apart under Darius’s movements. 

Darius continued to toy with me over my panties and I strained against the vine binding my wrists, wanting more, needing to touch them properly too. 

Caleb slid his other hand down my side, hooked his fingers through the edge of my panties and a flash of heat flared along my skin as he used his fire magic to destroy them. 

I gasped in surprise as Darius pressed forward instantly, dragging his tongue straight up the centre of me and sending heat tearing right through my core. I swore again, leaning more of my weight against Caleb as his grip on me tightened to keep me in place, his fingers digging into my hip almost painfully. 

Darius moved faster, licking, circling and even biting me a little as he sent my body wild. I was panting in Caleb’s arms, the darkness beneath the blindfold meaning my whole world was centred in on the movements of Darius’s mouth between my thighs and I was sure I’d never felt anything so intensely before in my life. 

Caleb stopped teasing my breast, shifting his hand down my side and sliding it beneath my raised thigh. 

My heart started racing in anticipation of what he was about to do but I could only lean against him, my fingers still rubbing along the length of his dick where they were bound behind me. 

Darius ran his tongue up the centre of me again just as Caleb pushed two fingers inside me and my back arched as I was overwhelmed by the two of them working together to destroy me. 

I swore again as Caleb moved his fingers in and out and Darius kept up his sweet torment with his mouth. It was too much, my heart was pounding too hard, my whole existence narrowing down to what they were doing to me and nothing else. 

I wanted to drag my fingers through Darius’s hair or fist my hands in Caleb’s shirt, but the vines on my wrists were keeping me still and I couldn’t concentrate enough to free myself. I’d given myself up to the mercy of monsters and there was no turning back for me now. I could only arch my back as my body pulsed with need and they worked together to ruin me. 

I cried out, my voice echoing off the glass roof as the combination of the two of them drove me to a climax so hard and fast that I could barely keep myself upright as it tore through my body. 

Caleb withdrew his fingers, snaking an arm around my waist to hold me up as Darius drew his tongue across me in languid circles, drawing every inch of pleasure from my flesh before he leaned back. 

He slid my leg from his shoulder and I managed to take my weight again as he pushed himself to his feet, moving his mouth up my body until he claimed my lips once more. 

He kissed me roughly, possessively, demanding that I give myself to him and making me want to do just that despite all the reasons I still had to deny him. His hands wound around my waist as he dragged me flush with his powerful body, pulling me away from Caleb like he wanted to steal me away entirely. And the deep growl that rumbled through his chest sounded a hell of a lot like a warning too.

I yanked against my restraints again, needing to touch him as well, my jaw tightening with frustration at them until I managed to break one hand free. 

I rotated my shoulders as I freed myself, letting my open shirt slide off of me as Caleb chuckled again, his hands sliding across my stomach, painting heated circles on my flesh. 

I leaned into Darius’s kiss, reaching up to skim my hands down his neck before making quick work of undoing his buttons so that I could explore his chest with trembling fingertips. I tried to paint the lines of his tattoos from memory, my eyes straining against the darkness of the blindfold. 

Each touch took me by surprise as the two of them moved their hands over my body and my uneven breathing was met with theirs as I shoved Darius’s shirt from his shoulders. 

The longer I kissed him, the more my heart ached for him, making it harder for me to deny what the stars had wanted for us. This heat that burned between us, the twisting of my soul when I was close to him like this made it so clear. And in that moment all I wanted was to let myself be his. Even if I knew it couldn’t last. 

Caleb skimmed his hands down my spine and the fabric of his shirt whispered against my skin. 

I broke my kiss with Darius, turning half way towards Caleb so that I could remove his shirt too. Caleb kissed me as I worked and Darius growled deep in the back of his throat, making goosebumps rise along my skin. This thing that was happening between us obviously wasn’t easy for him; Dragons didn’t share what they wanted. And he’d made it clear that he wanted me for himself. Seeing me in Caleb’s arms was clearly driving him wild with a mixture of lust, jealousy and rage and a twisted little part of me enjoyed being the object of his desire and torment like this.

The heat of their bare chests pressing against my skin from both sides was consuming me, setting a fire burning in me which they were stoking out of control. 

Darius ground against my side, pressing his lips to my neck as I continued to kiss his friend, his dick so hard that it dug into my hip, demanding my attention. 

A spike of adrenaline ran through me at the knowledge of how turned on this was making him. He might not like watching me with Caleb, but it was driving him to compete for my attention and the thought of it set my blood pumping with anticipation of what he might do next. 

I continued to kiss Caleb, my tongue dancing across his as I reached out to loosen Darius’s belt. I unhooked his fly and pushed my hand beneath his underwear, taking the long, hard length of him into my hand with a moan of longing. I began stroking and teasing him, my hand moving up and down as he groaned hungrily against my neck. 

I shifted my other hand down to Caleb’s waistband, slowly unhooking his fly too as I pushed my fingers into his jeans. 

Darius growled possessively again and the sound of it turned me on so much that heat flooded through my whole body. His fingers were digging into my flesh as he drew me closer to him, demanding more of me, all of me. And I needed more of this. More of him. 

I broke my kiss with Caleb and turned to meet Darius’s lips, his mouth coming down on mine hard and fast, need pouring through that connection as he tried to devour everything I had to give. Stamping his mouth to mine in a way that tried to claim me soul deep.

He kissed me with enough passion to light a forest fire, my broken heart swelling and pounding for him as every touch he gifted me burned me up until I was afraid I’d be consumed by the flames.

Darius dropped his pants, the soft thump of them hitting the stone floor sounding ten times louder to my heightened senses.

He dragged me around to face him fully, yanking me away from Caleb for a moment and I let him, wrapping my arms around his neck as Caleb shifted behind me. Darius grabbed the backs of my thighs and hoisted me into his arms as the sound of Caleb’s jeans hitting the floor followed too. 

My arms wound around Darius’s neck as I kissed him, drowning in the feeling of this moment, my heart fracturing with the knowledge that it couldn’t last.

Caleb’s fingers danced across my back as he unhooked my bra and I let him slip it from my arms as I leaned back against him. He shifted to grip my ass, holding my weight as Darius positioned himself between my thighs. I moaned in anticipation, needing to feel the fullness of him inside me like I was drowning and he was air. 

Caleb ran his tongue down the length of my neck as the two of them held me in suspense and I arched my back, demanding more.

Darius pushed inside me with a possessive growl and a powerful thrust that stole my breath. 

I cried out as I was overwhelmed by the feeling of him claiming my body and Caleb’s grip on my ass tightened, pushing me down onto Darius even harder. 

My ankles locked behind his back and he thrust into me again, compelling another moan from my lips as I fisted my hands in his hair.

Caleb’s chest was pressed against my back, his breaths coming quickly as he got off on watching us fucking right in front of him. But it wasn’t enough, I reached behind me, gripping the hard length of his dick in my hand and matching Darius’s thrusts with my movements along the length of his shaft. 

Caleb groaned in my ear, kissing my neck as he slid his hands around the front of me, one teasing my breast while the other circled that perfect spot at the apex of my thighs as Darius started to move faster. 

“Holy shit,” I cursed as the two of them started to build a flood of energy in my body which was so intense it had my head spinning. 

Darius kept pounding into me, his mouth finding mine and silencing my cursing as I fell into the fire of his kiss. 

My body was tightening around him, my cries of pleasure bleeding out between our joined lips. Caleb was breathing more heavily against my neck and I could feel his body tensing as I continued to work my hand up and down around his dick. 

Darius’s grip on my hips was so tight that it was bruising and I relished the pain, wanting him to mark my body in every way imaginable.

We were all building together and my head spun as I lost myself in the feeling of their bodies against mine. I couldn’t see anything but the faint orange glow beyond my blindfold. Every inch of my skin was alight with pleasure, every place they touched burning and tingling with need. 

I gripped Darius’s hair and kissed him like I’d die if I didn’t. Because that’s what it had felt like these last few months, like I was slowly wasting away without him, drowning, suffocating, dying. My lips were bruising, my flesh trembling and my muscles tightening around him as the two of them drove me to climax again. 

A tidal wave of pleasure crashed through my body and I cried out, breaking my kiss with Darius as I felt him swell inside me as he followed me into oblivion, his grip on me tightening as my name spilled from his lips. My moans of pleasure were enough to finish Caleb too and his head fell against my shoulder as I stroked him through the final throes of it. 

The three of us stayed locked together for several long seconds, none of us quite ready to relinquish the moment. 

I reached up slowly, tugging the blindfold from my eyes and blinking in the dim light as I found Darius staring at me like he’d never seen me before and he never wanted to look away again. 

He lowered me to the ground and we untangled ourselves from each other. 

I bit my lip, heat colouring my cheeks at what we’d all just done as I quickly recovered my clothes from the floor. I pulled my skirt into place and started buttoning my shirt before I looked back up at them.

Caleb was smirking to himself as he straightened his fly and stepped back a bit. 

Darius was staring at me, his pants on but his shirt still off. He stalked closer and I stilled, my heart leaping at the intensity in his gaze. 

“You can’t tell me you don’t feel that when we’re together. The way my heart pounds, my soul burns, my whole body aches…I know you feel it too,” he breathed, catching my cheek in his rough palm and forcing my eyes up to meet his, the black rings in them taunting me with the choice I’d made. “Why did you fight it before?”

I looked into his eyes for a long moment, pain scorching through my chest. “Because I’m almost as afraid of this feeling as I am of you,” I replied, offering him the truth for once.

My gaze slipped over his shoulder to Caleb as he shrugged his shirt back on. “You two are fated to be together,” he said, not seeming the least bit uncomfortable with the situation. “If the stars don’t realise what we did and you want to do this again then I’m more than up for that – because that was fucking unbelievable,” he said with a grin. “And I feel like I owe you guys for all the times I got in the way of you. But I’m not going to try and stand in the way of destiny.”

“We were made for each other, Roxy,” Darius growled, tipping my chin to bring my gaze back up to his. 

He leaned forward to kiss me and after what we’d just done I didn’t see the point in stopping him. My heart lurched and I melted against him, letting him draw me close and dropping the walls around my heart for one fleeting moment. 

It was an agony of the sweetest kind. My heart thumped endlessly against my ribs, my skin came alive with want and need and I curled my fingers into his hair, drawing him closer, never wanting to let him go. 

He kissed me desperately, sweetly, painfully, all the need and longing he felt for me clear in the depth of that kiss as his tongue moved with mine and his lips tried their best to claim me. 

“I know I don’t deserve you, Roxy. But I don’t think I can give you up even though I know that’s true,” Darius breathed against my lips and a tear slid down my cheek. 

“It’s too late for that,” I murmured, the painful truth of that consuming me for a moment.

The ground began to tremble beneath our feet and I glanced away to find that Caleb had left us to it. The stars must have figured out where we were, their curse coming back full force after we’d managed to steal a moment from them.

“The stars might have decided that you can never be mine,” Darius said roughly, refusing to move away from me. “But I am yours. No matter what. I don’t care where we end up or who we’re with, I’ll always be yours. And I’m going to fix the damage I did to us even if the stars don’t care. I’m going to prove to you that I could have been worthy of you if I’d just listened to my heart sooner.”

“It won’t change anything,” I said, my voice cracking as I bit down on my bottom lip and tried to force the tears to stop.

“If it changes the way you look at me then that’s enough,” he replied, his eyes full of pain as I took a step back.

I wanted to stay, to talk to him, to tell him…I didn’t even know what, but the chamber rumbled ominously and I glanced up at the glass dome which held back the weight of the lake fearfully and backed away again.

I broke away from him and turned my back as I hurried out of the tunnel and started running up the stairs. Caleb was nowhere to be seen and I guessed he’d really decided to leave us to it. I was just glad he wasn’t there to see me cry. 

Tears streamed down my cheeks and pain blossomed like a fresh wound in my heart as I ran. 

I could feel Darius’s gaze on me as I left him behind, but I didn’t turn back. I knew if I did my resolve would shatter like the fragile thing it was.  

I couldn’t let Darius Acrux have my heart. No matter how much I ached for him. We were doomed anyway. Star Crossed. And even if we weren’t, I just couldn’t trust him with it.  

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